It’s been nearly a year since Don Madge fought, and he’s looking to build on the statement win he delivered in his UFC debut.

Madge (8-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) takes on promotional newcomer Fares Ziam (10-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi on Sept. 7. He thinks it’ll be a quick night at the office.

“Every single fight that I take, I try to one-up the previous fight – so this fight is going to be no different,” Madge told MMA Junkie. “I’m going to come out and make a huge statement again. I don’t see this guy getting out of the first round with me, and if he does, he’s going to be very lucky.”

Ziam is on a five-fight winning streak, including four finishes. He’s shown a diverse set of striking skills throughout his fights, and Madge hopes he’ll be game to stand and trade with him come fight night.

“If he’s got the balls to stand in front of me and trade with me, then it’s going to be an exciting fight,” Madge said. “If he wants to do it, I’m always down. You know I love a good firefight. So if he wants to stand and throw down, I’m going to be more than willing to stand and throw down with him, too.”

Madge (8-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) hasn’t competed since knocking out Te Edwards in his promotional debut at UFC Fight Night 138. He landed a highlight-reel head kick in the second round for the finish.

But he hasn’t just been sitting on the sidelines. Madge was helping Cris Cyborg get ready for her fight vs. Amanda Nunes, and said he was ready to go earlier this summer. He attributed the layoff to communication issues with his old management. But he recently signed with Paradigm Sports Management, home of the likes of Conor McGregor, interim middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and Cyborg.

“Straight after my fight, I pretty much went straight back to the States and I was helping Cyborg with her camp for Amanda Nunes, so I wasn’t really in training,” Madge said. “I was just there helping her fine-tune stuff for her fight. I only got home at the end of February and was trying to book a fight for the Sweden card (in June). It was issues with my manager and the communication between us and the UFC wasn’t impactful – it wasn’t really a smooth transition to get onto a card. So now I’ve changed management and things are starting to roll a little easier.”

The “Magic Man” was initially slated to face Magomed Mustafaev, but health issues forced Mustafaev out and he was replaced by Ziam.

Madge said he isn’t concerned with the short-notice replacement. Even if their styles are relatively different, he is focused on what he is set out to do.

“The change of opponent doesn’t really matter,” Madge said. “Every single fight that I prepare for, I prepare on what I want to do in the fight, not necessarily what that guy is going to do. I’m more interested in what I’m going to do in my preparation, so it didn’t really make too much of a difference. The only difference is the guy is a little bit taller. But it’s pretty much the same fight for me.”

He said he is happy to be competing on a big pay-per-view card with a big title fight in the main event not too far from his home in South Africa,

“I was happy that I was going to be on such a big card,” Madge said. “Any card that Khabib (Nurmagomedov) is on, it’s always a big card. I was stoked that I was going to be on a nice big card in Abu Dhabi.”

Cyborg was unable to be a part of his camp, but has recently spent quite a bit of time training in South Africa, where Madge has become one of her main training partners.

Her visits to South Africa, have helped shed light on the fast growing MMA scene in the country, and Madge said he is glad to be a part of it.

“She actually came out to South Africa for her last camp and she loved it,” Madge said. “I think she put on a great performance against Felicia Spencer, so I think slowly but surely, we’re starting to bring attention to African MMA, South African MMA.”